my random ramblings

Tag Archives: shopping

After visiting the designer of our entourage -to accompany Kei’s sister and mom to fit their dresses. We proudly decided to show them our tiny, messy place. Hahaha! They found the place “maaliwalas” bright and airy. They also saw the lack of furniture.

Kei’s sister will not have any of it. She declared that She will get us a bed. A few minutes later, we found ourselves at the backseat of her car heading to Mandaue Foam, Quezon Ave. I slept the whole time. (I was stressed and tired! So much for making a good impression to Kei’s family)

Hello Mandaue Foam!

And so, we arrived! I also have to tell you that I am very sorry for the lack of pictures. I left my camera at home and all I have was my phone that was on a bleeping low batt at the time. So, all the pictures here are from the internet.

Walking in we tried the mattresses in their testing area.

lie down on all the beds?! Sure.

We picked out the orthopedic bed as it was the non negotiable for me. (I have a mild case of dextroscoliosis) Then, we scurried upstairs their showroom to look at bed frames. Most of their furniture are solid wood. That explains the price but I must say all of them are of quality.

They have a lot to choose from! And they all picked what they liked best.

While we like what Kei’s mom picked out, the padded headboard might be a potential asthma attack for me. The one Kei’s sister picked was also nice but only comes in double size. So again it is a no.

The one with the curved headboard is too “classic” for Kei’s taste. –according to Kei he wanted something modern.

-And I found out that the side table I liked was named: KAILEY-it goes for 4,800.00php. *if you ask me it sounds like my best friend’s nickname.

And after a bit of looking around. We found ourselves looking at the same bed.

This bed. Or to be exact this bed frame. (that gave us heartbreak number two)

I managed to urge my phone to capture one photo, before the phone shuts down.

Its name is CRAZY. Nope, we kid you not.

I find it pretty. Cut textured, solid wood headboard, in a warm shade of maple. Kind of balanced out the edgy design. It also looked cozy. We all liked it. -Its only flaw, It doesn’t have the storage underneath. But It really is pretty. We were sold.

*After all we could just get plastic storage bins to hide under the bed.

To give a better look of it I searched for it on the internet and found it only in a different color.

Just showing you a better picture of the bed frame.

While it is the same bed frame, I liked the maple colored one better. It shows the wood grain better and adds a cozy feel to the bed.

See, told you it is CRAZY, just look at the crazy color options. lol.

So, we finally got a bed! Woot! All thanks to Kei’s sister.-NOT REALLY. WE just lost the freaking bed (frame). So much for getting our hopes up.

the UPDATE: Apparently MANDAUE FOAM sold the said bed frame we got on reserve to another customer. They have our mattress correct, but the bed frame is lost. The stocks are all sold out. Even the dark version. It would take long before they will get it back again. By that they broke our hearts. =( so heartbreak number two.-why is this so frustrating?!

*In my mind I was singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s – Call me maybe: hey, I just met you and this is CCCRRAAAYZEE…

We went on looking at some of their other pieces that we thought would look good in our place.

So here is what we (Kei and I) like for the bedroom.

these two are in coffee, I want mine in maple.

For the dining it would be this cute dining set!

a place for all the nom-nom action.

The sofas here in Mandaue Foam failed to capture my attention.

But the extras for their living room really do! Here are my picks.

a couple of ottomans, one side table and one center table to go. All in maple please.

MANDAUE FOAM -I hope you did not promise what you cannot deliver. But whats done is done. We like your products, yes. But you failed us with your careless service.

*All my reviews, opinions, and other stuff expressed here are our own and based on our own experience. This is not a sponsored post, Kei’s sister paid for the matress (from) her own pocket. Much Thanks!

**I may have written before that we wanted a king sized bed, but due to the tight space we got a queen size. Our king sized beddings will be altered.

So, most people we know are off to Boracay to spend the labor day weekend. Being true blue city-girl-mall-rats….my best friend and me have decided that labor day will be dedicated to hunting items from our Christmas wish list (last year 2014) but with the premise of getting the said stuff on sale or discount.

So, Joanna wanted a Marc Jacobs Henry Skeleton Watch, I was looking for Miss Dior EDP preferably the 100ml bottle. Those were the specific item we are hunting for. Since both items are pricey. We looked at every possible option to obtain them for cheaper. (That means we spent the past few months, going to Rustans, Cash and carry, Shangri-la and even looking for it online.) Till this weekend. It was do or die. We are going to wing it.

This is going to be a girly shopping day. Hence, Gay-bor date.

With Kei in tow, off we go to Cash and Carry to look for the Miss Dior edp. I asked store after store to no avail.

close but not really the one. sorry.

Started with Bescost (they only have the old miss dior originale with the full houndstooth patterened bottle see top left photo), then to Criseldas’s (that only has the miss dior blooming bouquet variant see top right photo), Tia Loleng’s ( no miss dior here), till I saw it at Anselka’s! A 100ml bottle with the gold/amber liquid! Was grinning with excitement.

hello lovely!

I hurriedly dragged Jo to Anselka’s and showed her the bottle. Checked it for authenticity and went on to get the loot. Mad happy really.

Next, we went to meet Jo’s Dad and he drove us/treated us to a sumptuous lunch at Tim Ho Wan. That porkbun was melt in the mouth yums! Lunch was so awesome we finished lunch in less than an hour. I also learned a few Cantonese phrases over lunch. Also added a new food fave – Lo mai gai. That my friends, is steamed glutinous rice in lotus leaf.

eating out with my HK peeps!

So after lunch our group went to meet our childhood friend Geordan, plus his parents. Chatted up a bit and it was time for them to go. Jo’s dad also went home. With only the three of us are walking around Glorietta, Kei and I went to introduce Adora to Joanna. She loved the place! She is familiar with the bags! And proceeded to give me a crash course on bag appreciation. Fancy stuff. After the bags, I got her to try Penhaligon’s scents. After a few sniffs on the testers, she ended up liking what I liked best – Empressa. We like patchouli. Hahaha!

Then looked at the watches on display. Little did I know, the watch Jo likes was on display! And an added bonus, on sale.

finally found you.

She has been looking for it for a while now. Her initial pick was the rose gold version of the Marc Jacobs Henry Skeleton watch, but seeing this lovely gold version made her change her mind. Few more minutes waiting for it to get adjusted, Joanna got her loot! With a gift with purchase sticky note pad! Score!

So we went to have a afternoon coffee to escape the summer heat.

escaping the summer heat

Then proceeded to take outfit of the day pictures. Sun dresses are the in thing for the day!

our outfit of the day photos. Much Thanks for the photo Kei!

Come dinner, we get Joanna to try one of our fave food haunt Kitchitora. We both got Paitan ramen sets. So that she gets to sample the different appetizers.

Team Patchouli (the Lupets) at Kitchitora

Kei got tsukemen as expected. Here is our whole spread.

dinner is served

Joanna loved the place and the food! Good one Kitchitora!

After dinner we chatted a bit then its time to go home. To cap it all off here is our loot for the day.

our loot for the day

*Much thanks to Kei for accompanying us, being the photographer for the day and helping us find our stuff! Our only regret is we did not take picture with Joanna’s dad and Geordan plus his parents. Next time… Overall it is a good day for shopping.

Next day was Saturday. It was a normal work day for me. And also did all my grooming rounds. By that I mean going to the dermatologist and dentist. Kei prepared his presentation for church tomorrow. We spent the day at home watching big bang theory and eating chickenjoy, heaps of palabok + Chinese take out dinner, all of which are drowned with buko juice. We are cool like that. hahaha!

Sunday was a Yes and No day. YES that Kei pulled off the church activity he planned perfectly. All is well till Pacquiao lost. That was the NO. Bummer.

We ran off to the mall again, where else?! hahaha! the afternoon was spent on retail therapy. We tried Old Navy as we heard that they make good looking comfy-casual clothes and that their pant/s selection is good! Meaning they carry a wide range of pant sizes! So, Kei tried on pants and I tried on dresses.

Here are the ones I tried on. From left to right: White eyelet dress (no xs size so not for me), the middle and right are the same design, only the middle is a swiss dot design and the right one is in stripes. All my picks are 100% cotton fabric. I hate polyester.

all pretty! photos taken from old navy

He got two pants one in denim and another in khaki. I got two dresses. The swiss dot and the stripe. After that we doused our hot temper in iced macchiato and went back to grab our new found fave porkbuns. Then ate a lot again for dinner.

this helped us feel better. but our wallet does not feel better. lols.

Paid for it in half and will pay for the other half once the gown is done. Excited to see/wear it since they promised to add some beading detail to its shoulder area. I just love shiny stuff!

And December, we have to talk, you can’t just sneak up on me like this. I am not yet ready.

I cannot stress that enough!

See, I haven’t even started shopping, I cant seem to wrap my head on how I will go about the get together with the family, the yearly meet up with the childhood friends, eating up a riot with my favorite foodie/s, my sister’s birthday, at least get something seriously done for our big day. Calling up the venue to ask for permits for a prenup shoot…. I am rambling. Sorry.

Halfway done with the initial wave of workload. Thank God. Have a bit of time right now. Expecting the next wave as soon as the last week of November maybe? Anyway, I am thankful.

photo taken from pinterest

That brings me to planning my yearly Christmas tradition…planning my list. This is the time I usually send the wishlist to those who are in the list. Yes. I am O.C. like that. I wanted to get the people who matter to me a present they would use/like. So, far I have ideas for a few, for the others, I still need to find stuff they would love.

Speaking of Christmas presents… Mason Jars are apparently “it thing” right now. First saw them popping out on Pinterest then a visit to a cute cupcake bakery got me looking for those mason jars in the Philippines. (I got mine shipped, from a college friend.)

This could be a really cute Christmas gift paired with some marshmallows and hot chocolate (this will be my staple holiday gift for 2014)!

These are our mason jars/mugs! *brought our mugs to Starbucks to get better mug photos.

So once I have finished dealing with my nefarious workload… it is off to Christmas shopping! Think happy thoughts!

I could still recall the day I encountered a perfume we can’t resist sniffing.

Joanna (my best friend) and I were out playing when our neighbor Ava passed by. She is older than us (by 8-10 years, I guess) and she is beautiful, we liked looking at her and imagining what we would look like if we were her age, and we would always know if she was near because she always smells nice. (like peaches, or caramel apples) We liked her perfume. We just didn’t have the nerve to ask her what it is. To us it was magic.

sweet peaches – photo from 1zoom.net

So, we would wait for her to pass by every afternoon to get a sniff.

Fast forward to high school, I got a a bottle of perfume from my aunt in States. It has a acrylic crystal box and the bottle resembles a teddy bear. It smells sweet and light and I loved it to the last spray! Too bad I cannot recall the brand.

Come college days I used a lot of baby colognes. I got Johnson’s baby cologne in morning dew and summer swing. Also used Bench bay cologne in bubblegum and lemon drop plus the sweet pea body mist and kiwi cologne spray.

I then started work, I got Glow by JLo from a officemate. (who learned that I love JLo) And my interest in perfumes was piqued! I mean this stuff lasts for more than an hour! I then bought Japanese cherry blossom perfume from the Body shop from my own pocket! (This was a big move for me because at that time, I was skeptic to buy perfumes as they are expensive, i see them as a “want item” not a “need item”. Well, at least for me.)

Japanese Cherry Blossom – photo from hdwallphotos.com

That christmas Joanna got me a bottle of Guess for woman perfume and I absolutely adored it! the next year rolled around and she got me Jlo’s Still perfume (I really love JLo, and her perfumes too.), then a Ralph Lauren perfume for women, D&G light blue, Salvatore Ferragamo incanto shine… almost all of the perfumes I own are gifts from her.

I also got her to look at Fragrantica! and got the idea to go searching for a new perfume, we listed what we like to try out. But with the tall order that we will not “blind buy” we will smell it first. *Perfume counters in the Philippines doesn’t give out samples.

these are not mine… I just hope it was.photo from we heart it

So our last shopping meet-up was spent looking for and sniffing at perfume counters! We sniffed till our feet hurt, from all the walking and lamenting why they don’t give out sample vials locally. We tested, and compared. On the end of the day Joanna loved Marc Jacobs Dot-honey, while I liked Juicy Couture Viva la juicy-noir and of course Miss Dior that I have been looking at from fragrantica.

The one I have been looking for – photo from we heart it

I was actually looking for Miss Dior Le parfum. But locally (Rustan’s Philippines) they don’t carry the Le parfum, they only have the Eau de parfum and I am undecided to get it till i smell the le parfum.

We ended up not buying any perfumes that day.

But we learned what scents we like and what we don’t, which perfume works better with our skin, what gives better projection, lasting silage… more than just looking at the descriptions on the internet.

We got to test the fragrances.

And that was okay for us. We could always buy on the next shopping day.

A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting. – Christian Dior

Its not going to be resolved anytime soon. We wear almost the same sizes, we share clothes and accessories. Pretty neat really.

We love buying clothes, the more the better! We also have a steady supply of stuff from our loving/doting aunts. Fab.

In shopping bags, plastic bags, boxes we love them. As each weekend passes the clothes accumulate. We are happy with it.

We are actually pleased with our loot. And bond over shopping for more. I believe we love to hoard.

Managed to fill the closets to their maximum capacity. We resulted to keeping them in their shopping bags and hanging them on our rack, till we spilled over to keeping a mini mountain of bags full of clothes in the corner of our living room. Along the way managed to fill in a huge plastic box with bags and more clothes.

Also experienced losing some of our clothes that we never worn before. Proceeded to rummage the closet and the missing item is still lost. Sad. But, all is well.

Since we are petite we easily fit in tweens/teens/women’s wear/s that added to our growing pile. Our closet is really bursting at the seams.

Much to the dismay of my Mum. And recently Dad.

They tell us that we need not buy more clothes because we don’t really use them save for weekends. I am usually in a plain cheap cotton shirts and denim pants on work days… and my sister is in uniforms on school days.

They now ordered us to do a closet “purge”.

We absolutely hate it. We love our messy closet.

Even if we always find ourselves standing in front of our closet/s and declaring “I have nothing to wear”.

Anyone can get dressed up and glamorous but it is how people dress in their days off that are the most intriguing. -Alexander Wang

I want to have better skin. But I have this fear that my skin will breakout (that usually happens) when I use a new product.

It may be a new soap, shampoo, conditioner, facial wash. when my skin doesn’t like it, hello zits. Due to this extremely embarrassing skin situation I am in, I am wary of anything that touches my face. I don’t use hair conditioner (let the hair be dry as long as my skin is clear, people will not notice!). I don’t use blush and foundation, I only do my eyes and lips (If I really need to use makeup that day). Normally, I leave my face bare, and use only sunblock and hypoallergenic baby powder.

Then I still have to contend with the unsightly brown spots (from healed acne), some red patches (still acne, just newly healed), my forever there freckles, some blackheads (on the nose), and pimples (small bumps). Plus the oily skin. At times I think why my genes are conspiring against me.

A poster I saw at the Beauty bar announced that Cure Natural Aqua Gel (that was so popular in Japan) is now available here in Manila. I was like, what is it? I was only mild curious. My skin is not exactly up for experimentation as I am having a break-out(that time). But with the prodding of Kei, I went inside and reached for a tester.

That moment was exactly two months ago.

Cure Exfoliating Gel

Cure Natural Aqua Gel – a skincare with activated hydrogen water made for removal of dead skin cells. Cure Natural Aqua Gel is a gentle and natural exfoliating gel that removes dead skin effectively without causing undue stress to the skin. Unlike chemical peels which use strong acid, Cure is very gentle on the skin and only removes the unwanted dead skin. It does not dry or thin your skin which cause your skin to be vulnerable to sunlight.

Hmm… not bad. I am now curious. with the permission and assistance of a sales lady, I tried a dollop of cure on my hands. It feels cold and a few seconds later, I have small white balls of dead skin cells in my hands and it doesn’t hurt at all! My skin felt really soft! I then asked a lot of questions to the sales lady. like, is this organic? safe for sensitive skin? what is this made of? do many people buy?

And assured me that a lot of people brought the product and only two are left for sale. Woah! I wasted no time in grabbing one bottle and heading to the cashier.

Do they live up to the hype?

I was so glad to have purchased this! I have been using this twice a week, for two months now, and I can say my skin condition really improved. my brown spots have lightened, breakouts have been in control (not really gone but less embarrassing fewer/smaller than before, hooray!). Cure helps in brightening and softening the skin, by removing the dead skin cells and allowing the fast absorption of serums, masks, acne creams etc. The red spots however are stubborn. they still stay, but it is very very slowly lightening.

The packaging is also utilitarian as it is made of transparent plastic (no fear of dropping the bottle, can see how much product left), each bottle comes with a plastic lock (preventing spillage).

How to use?

Wash your face with cleanser and dry well.

Pump a small amount of Cure to be applied on the desired area. Leave it on skin for a few seconds to react with the dead skin cells.

Gentle massage in a circular motion for 30 sec.-1 min. The gel will turn into milky liquid and white particles of dead skin cells can be seen as they are lift off the skin.

Rinse well with water. Your skin is now ready for moisturizing.

*Price? I got this for Php1500 (250ml bottle) at Beauty Bar

*All my reviews, opinions, and other stuff expressed here are my own and based on my own experience with the product. This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this (from) my own pocket.